Abstract :
A novel method for the rapid screening of clandestine tablets for drugs by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is described. In this method, cetrimonium bromide (CTAB), a surfactant, is added to the conventional (alpha)-cyano-4hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) matrix solution used in preparing the MALDI samples. This procedure allows very clean mass spectra to be collected for amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), caffeine, ketamine and tramadol. The method was used successfully in the rapid drugscreening of some actual clandestine tablets, which had been seized from the illicit market, and can serve as a good complementary method to GC/MS for use in forensic analysis.
